Treadmill

ABSTRACT

A treadmill includes a frame, a wheel disposed on the frame and two exercise sets arranged on opposite sides of the wheel. Each of the exercise sets includes a track installed on the frame, a rocker disposed on the frame, a crank connected to the wheel, a rod arranged between the crank and the rocker and a tread connected to the rod and crank on one hand and movable on the track at the other hand.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a treadmill and, more particularly, to a treadmill for providing strides.

2. Related Prior Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional treadmill includes a base 10, a post 11 disposed on a front portion of the base 10, a wheel 13 disposed on a rear portion of the base 10 and two exercise sets arranged on opposite sides of the wheel 13. Each exercise set includes a rocker 12 connected to the post I1, a crank 14 connected to the wheel 13, a keel 15 arranged between the rocker 12 and crank 14 and a tread 16 mounted on the keel 15. An upper portion of the rocker 12 is used as a handle. By treading the treads 16 alternately, an exerciser moves a tread 16 down and forward and the other tread 16 up and backward. This conventional treadmill however entails intensive stress in the exerciser as ankles since the tilting of the treads 16 is large. Moreover, it causes the exerciser troubles in balancing since the vertical movement of the treads 16 is large. The rockers 12 must be long so that the exerciser can hold them with his or her hands while treading the treads 16. This renders the treadmill bulky. To reduce the vertical movement of the treads 16, the keels 15 could be extended. However, this would render the treadmill bulky.

There are devised conventional treadmills wherein the wheel is disposed on the front portion of the base, and the front end of each keel is connected to the wheel while the rear end of each keel is movable on a track. Such conventional treadmills are found in Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 429791 and Taiwanese Patent M262216. However, they also suffer the foregoing drawbacks.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown another conventional treadmill including a short base 20, a post 21 disposed on a front portion of the base 20, a wheel 23 disposed on a rear portion of the base 20 and two exercise sets arranged on opposite sides of the wheel 23. Each exercise set includes a rocker 22, a track 24 and a tread 25. The rocker 22 is connected to the post 21. A front end of the track 24 is connected to the rocker 22 via a rod 26. The tread 25 is movable on the track 24. A front end of the tread 25 is connected to the rocker 22 via a rod 27. The length of this conventional treadmill is short. It however causes the exerciser troubles in balancing since the vertical movement of the treads 16 is large. Therefore, the rockers 12 must be long so that the exerciser can hold them with his or her hands while treading the treads 16. This renders the treadmill bulky.

Disclosed in Taiwanese Patent M271597 is a miniature treadmill including a base 10, a shaft 20 disposed on a front portion of the base 10, a wheel 16 disposed on a lower portion of the base 10 and two exercise sets. Each exercise set includes a rocker 23 connected to the shaft 20, a crank 161 connected to the wheel 16, a keel 25 arranged between the rocker 23 and the crank 161 and a tread 26 disposed on the keel 25. This conventional miniature treadmill however forces the exerciser to take small steps instead of strides for using a very small wheel.

The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a treadmill for allowing exercisers to take strides.

According to the present invention, a treadmill includes a frame, a wheel disposed on the frame and two exercise sets arranged on opposite sides of the wheel. Each of the exercise sets includes a track installed on the frame, a rocker disposed on the frame, a crank connected to the wheel, a rod arranged between the crank and the rocker and a tread connected to the rod and crank on one hand and movable on the track at the other hand.

Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described through detailed illustration of two embodiments in view of conventional treadmills referring to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional treadmill;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another conventional treadmill;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a treadmill according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the treadmill shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a person exercising on the treadmill shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a treadmill according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 3, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, a treadmill includes a frame 40, a transmission unit 50 arranged on the frame 40 and two exercise sets each arranged on a different side of the transmission unit 50.

The frame 40 includes a front crossbar 42, a rear crossbar 43, a longitudinal bar 41 extending from the front crossbar 42 to the rear crossbar 43 and a post 45 extending from the front crossbar 42. An instrument 46 is arranged on the post 45. The instrument 46 may include a counter, a clock and/or a stopwatch.

The transmission unit 50 includes a wheel 51 arranged on a rear portion of the longitudinal bar 41, a resistance element 52 for adjusting the scale of resistance against the rotation of the wheel 51 and a shell 55 for covering the wheel 51. The resistance element 52 may be a magnetically controllable wheel, a damping belt, a frictional wheel or a flywheel.

Each of the exercise sets includes a track unit 80, a tread unit 90, a linkage unit 70 and a rocker unit 60. The following description will be focused on only one of the exercise sets.

The track unit 80 includes a track 81, a stem 85, a front joint 82 and a rear joint 83. The track 81 is in an arched form. A front end of the track 81 is connected to an end of the front crossbar 42 by the joint 82. A lower end of the stem 85 is connected to an end of the rear crossbar 43 by the rear joint 83. A rear end of the track 81 is connected to an upper end of the stem 85 by welding for example. Thus, the track 81 is tilted. The stem 85 may be a telescopic element so that the height of the rear end of the track 81 can be adjusted.

The tread unit 90 includes a tread 95, a keel 91 attached to the tread 95, a roller 96 attached to the keel 91 and a sleeve 92 transversely attached to the keel 91. The top of the tread 95 is skid-proof. The keel 91 is made of metal to support the tread 95 generally made of plastic. The roller 96 is used to roll on the track 81 so that the tread 95 is movable to and fro on the track 81.

The linkage unit 70 includes a crank 71, a yoke 72, a rod 73 and a sleeve 74 transversely connected to the rod 73. An end of the crank 71 is connected to the wheel 51 so that the movement of each exercise set is coordinated with that of the other exercise set. A pin is driven in an opposite end of the crank 71, the yoke 72 and the sleeve 92. The rod 73 is attached to the yoke 72.

The rocker unit 60 includes a shaft 61 connected to the post 45, a sleeve 62 disposed on the shaft 61, a rocker 63 connected to the sleeve 62 and a yoke 64 connected to the rocker 63. A pin is driven in the yoke 64 and the sleeve 62.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, an exerciser sets his feet on the treads 95. By treading the treads 95 alternately, the user moves the treads 95 up and down and to and fro. A tread 95 is moved up and forward while the other tread 95 is moved down and backward. Thus, the exerciser treads the treads 95 in imitation of waking or jogging.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a treadmill according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is like the first embodiment except including an extensive element 47 connected to the post 45 and a handle 48 inserted through the extensive element 47. A senior or weak exerciser or a patient can hold the handle 48 while treading the treads 95.

An advantage of the treadmill according to the present invention is safety for the exerciser since the vertical movement of the treads 95 is limited to a small range and the treads 95 are located at low position so that the exerciser has no trouble balancing himself on the treads 95.

Another advantage of the treadmill according to the present invention is healthy for the exerciser since the tilting of the treads 95 is limited to a small range so that the exerciser feels little stress in his ankles.

Still another advantage of the treadmill according to the present invention is realistic imitation of walking or jogging since it enables the exerciser to stride.

The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims. 

1. A treadmill comprising a frame, a wheel disposed on the frame and two exercise sets arranged on opposite sides of the wheel, each of the exercise sets comprising: a track installed on the frame; a rocker disposed on the frame; a crank connected to the wheel; a rod arranged between the crank and the rocker; and a tread connected to the rod and crank on one hand and movable on the track at the other hand.
 2. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein the frame comprises a front crossbar, a rear crossbar and a longitudinal bar for interconnecting the front and rear crossbars.
 3. The treadmill according to claim 2 wherein the frame comprises a post connected to the front crossbar, and the rockers are connected to the post.
 4. The treadmill according to claim 3 comprising an instrument disposed on the post to provide information to exercisers.
 5. The treadmill according to claim 4 wherein the instrument is a counter.
 6. The treadmill according to claim 4 wherein the instrument is a clock.
 7. The treadmill according to claim 4 wherein the instrument is a stop watch.
 8. The treadmill according to claim 3 comprising a handle connected to the post so that exercisers can hold the handle while treading.
 9. The treadmill according to claim 8 comprising an extensive element for connecting the handle to the post.
 10. The treadmill according to claim 1 comprising a resistance element for adjusting the resistance against the rotation of the wheel.
 11. The treadmill according to claim 1 comprising a shell for covering the wheel.
 12. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a shaft disposed on the frame, and the rocker is connected to the shaft.
 13. The treadmill according to claim 12 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a sleeve disposed on the shaft, and the rocker is connected to the sleeve.
 14. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a yoke connected to the rocker, and the rod is pivotally connected to the yoke.
 15. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a yoke connected to the rod, and the tread and crank are pivotally connected to the yoke.
 16. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein the track is an arched element.
 17. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a stem for supporting an end of the track on the frame.
 18. The treadmill according to claim 17 wherein the stem is a telescopic element so that the height of the end of the track is adjustable.
 19. The treadmill according to claim 1 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a keel connected to the rod and crank on one hand and movable on the track at the other hand, and the tread is disposed on the keel.
 20. The treadmill according to claim 18 wherein each of the exercise sets comprises a roller attached to keel and movable on the track. 